Since the Reformation, various parts of Brandenburg-Prussia have mixed dominations in which followers of the Lutheran and Reformed faiths prevail. Brandenburg-Prussia's characteristic tradition of religious tolerance develops out of this diversity. It is also the salvation for around 17,000 Protestant religious refugees from the Bishopric of Salzburg where only the Catholic faith is permitted. These were subject to an eviction edict in 1731 and turn to Brandenburg-Prussia in their search for new space for living. King Frederick William I allows these so-called refugees to settle in depopulated Eastern Prussia in 1732.